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I'm pretty sure most Mexican dishes don't use cumin
This perception is another case of northern Mexican cuisine, especially that of Chihuahua and Sonora, not being proper Mexican food. I hear it all the time: "There is no [flour tortilla, cheese, cumin, machaca] in real Mexican cuisine."
Saying cumin is not typically Mexican is like saying ketchup is not typically American because most American dishes do not include ketchup in the ingredients.
Many moles and chile sauces, especially those in northern Mexico, use cumin quite freely.
This perception is another case of northern Mexican cuisine, especially that of Chihuahua and Sonora, not being proper Mexican food. I hear it all the time: "There is no [flour tortilla, cheese, cumin, machaca] in real Mexican cuisine."
Saying cumin is not typically Mexican is like saying ketchup is not typically American because most American dishes do not include ketchup in the ingredients.
Many moles and chile sauces, especially those in northern Mexico, use cumin quite freely.
I know that some Mexican cuisines use cumin, I just meant that I wouldn't characterize Mexican cuisine as a whole by the presence of cumin.
Except of course we are not talking about caviar vs Hamburger Helper, we are talking taco vs taco. Most people in the U.S. do not have the opportunity to experience good Mexican food vs bad Mexican food. All they have access to is faux Mexican food.
I've had plenty of access to all kinds of Mexican food and I still enjoy Taco Bell, so your whole "Americans haven't tried it" argument falls flat. There are far too many types of authentic Mexican food to declare Taco Bell fake just based on it being an American fast food chain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TimTheEnchanter
The analogy is someone singing a song well and someone singing the SAME SONG badly.
In this case you would arguing the person who LIKES someone singing off key and missing notes has just as viable an opinion as to who is the better singer and that both singers are therefore equal.
Nope. There is no "correct" for food taste or preference so it cannot be compared to something black and white like whether a singer is for hitting certain notes.
I actually hear that taco stands in Mexico tend to not have very long menus, but rather specializing in 1-3 fillings
And tinga is so good, it seems pretty unknown in the US though. I randomly tried one from a taco truck in Brooklyn and I loved it.
It depends. Some taco stands will have eight or more containers with different fillings, especially the bigger guisado type taco stands. Others have less or even one thing they specialize in, one of my favorites in Mexico City just had tacos de chivo, nothing else. Your only option besides chivo (goat) was whether to add green salsa, onion, or limes to it.
That's what is so funny about TimTheEnchanter's silly list of ingredients where one is required to be a REAL authentic taco stand, there are literally hundreds of types of tacos. Trying to rattle off a few as some gold standard of authenticity is incredibly naive.
It's not a matter of self-appointment - it's just having a clue.
As an aside, I was in Los Angeles recently. I did a lot of eating, as it's a great town for authentic Mexican as well as a vast array of other cuisines (had some great Korean and Cuban, too). But it amazed me that there were Taco Bells there. Who on earth would pass up all the great Mexican street food for some moronic 'taco' made out of a giant Dorito? Probably the same sort of person who travels to Europe and eats at a McDonald's in Rome and goes shopping at The Gap in Paris.
Interesting but I doubt that it has to do anything with the ethnicity of Gas Station owner. Most probably the owner is Mr Patel from India who will hardly eat it themselves.
It’s the ethnicity of the cooks that matter, and they’re usually Mexican. We have so many taco stands and Mexican restaurants around here you literally have one for every neighborhood. We also have pho and Mediterranean restaurants for every neighborhood now too. But I do notice that the Hispanic workers tend to go to the gas station stands a lot since it’s cheap and convenient when they’re working.
But it amazed me that there were Taco Bells there. Who on earth would pass up all the great Mexican street food for some moronic 'taco' made out of a giant Dorito?
How is a Taco Bell taco akin to a giant Dorito? Because it's a crunchy tortilla instead of soft?
Tostadas are popular as street and restaurant food in Mexico and that looks a lot more like a Dorito than a Taco Bell crunchy taco shell, are all the Mexicans eating tostadas in Mexico eating moronic food? What about tacos dorados, flautas, or chilaquiles? They are all quite common in Mexico, I guess the fact they are deep fried to be crunchy makes them just Doritos and we should wonder why millions of Mexicans eat them every day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hulsker 1856
Probably the same sort of person who travels to Europe and eats at a McDonald's in Rome
Aside from the fact that most people in McDonald's in other countries are locals, when people are on vacation they sometimes miss food from back home they are familiar with, or they are interested to see if there are different menu items available in other countries. It's really a stretch to refer to someone as a "sort of person" because they feel like eating a cheeseburger when on vacation overseas.
You're basically doubling down on food snobbery by extending to travel snobbery.
I live in a Mexican neighborhood and eat at several local Mexican joints. I also like Taco Bell; it doesn’t have to be that you like only one or the other.
The food was probably decent when they first opened.
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